A TEESSIDE nurse has been struck off the nursing register for putting patients at risk by failing to maintain records adequately and honestly.

Four charges of misconduct were proven against Nicola Jayne Gibson, 37, at a Nursing and Midwifery hearing on Wednesday.

The panel heard that between July 2004 and December 2006, while working as a research nurse at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, Gibson:

Failed to fully complete consent forms

Failed to adequately carry out interviews for participants

Failed to document blood test results properly

Recorded that she had given medication to participants when she had not done so.

The panel heard that some consent forms had not been signed by both the registrant and the participant and that a number of treatment bottles that Gibson had apparently allocated to people were still in the pharmacy.

A spokeswoman for the Nursing and Midwifery Council said: “The panel has determined that the appropriate sanction is to impose a Striking Off Order.

“The registrant’s failings with regard to blood testing of chronically-ill patients could put patients at a real risk of significant harm.

“The registrant’s failings in regard to drug allocation and documentation could have prejudiced the patients’ clinical management.

“The registrant’s failure to obtain appropriate informed consent in a significant number of cases put those patients at risk in that they were not fully informed of the potential effects of the trial on them.

“The registrant’s failure to conduct the interviews appropriately denied the patients an adequate consultation.The registrant’s actions were dishonest. This conduct was below the standard expected of a registered nurse.”

“In any case where a nurse’s professional conduct is in question, the trust would conduct its own investigation and act appropriately on the findings. In this case, the nurse was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.”